Drug Use in Sports - Research Paper Example

Drug Use in Sports Number and Number Number of Words 197 Aside from identifying the commonly used athlete-performance drugs, this report identify and discuss the health and socio-economic consequences associated with the use of ergogenic drugs. In order to control the increasing number of young athletes who are involved in the practice of “doping”, this report tackled the importance of health teachings in our community and local schools. Introduction ‘Doping’ is a term pertaining to the use of illegal athlete performance drugs. Despite the long-term health consequences and an increased risk of untimely death associated with doping (Dhar et al., 2005), there are still a lot of athletes today who are taking drugs to enhance their athletic performances. Since the use of performance enhancing drugs could give professional athletes a significant advantage over their competitors, the national and international sports commission such as in the case of the International Olympic Committee and the National Collegiate Athletic Association finds it difficult to maintain a “doping-free” competition among the athletes (Sportsnet News, 2011; Gomez, 2005). It has been an on-going practice on the part of the governing bodies of athletic regulations to exert extra effort to control the use of performance-enhancing drugs. With this in mind, the literature gathered in this study will first identify some commonly used ergogenic drugs followed by discussing potential health and socio-economic impact of drug use in sports. To give the readers a better idea on how we can prevent the young athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs, this study will discuss the significance and importance of health teachings in our community and local schools. Literature Review General Fact about the Commonly Used Drugs in Sports Performance-enhancing drugs may come in the form of dietary supplements, prescripted medication, or illegal drugs (Gomez, 2005). Among the common ergogenic drugs use for to enhance athletic performances includes: anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) a.k.a. “Di-anabol” – commonly used to improve the physical structure of athletes’ body, steroid precursors like the andro-stenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone, creatine, ephedra or ephedrine alkaloids a.k.a “ma huang”, erythropoietin, and growth hormones among others (Wiefferink et al., 2008; Calfee & Fadale, 2006; Dhar et al., 2005; Gomez, 2005; McDevitt, 2003). These drugs are available in the market in oral or injectable form. Since a lot of our young athletes desire to improve their physical appearance and athletic abilities within the shortest possible time, a lot of them ends up being tempted to experiment on the use of ergogenic drugs (Wiefferink et al., 2008; Elliot et al., 2007; Calfee & Fadale, 2006; Gomez, 2005). The presence of ergogenic drugs can be traced through the athletes’ blood samples. Although there are medical ways that can be use in determining whether or not each of the sports athlete is taking ergogenic drugs, several authors explained that some athletes are aware on how they can receive a negative drug testing test after taking these drugs (Calfee & Fadale, 2006; Gomez, 2005). In line with this, Calfee & Fadale (2006) explained that it is difficult to detect the presence of streoids substances days before the Olympic game in case the athletes has taken the steroids during the off-season. Health Consequences Associated with the Use of Ergogenic Drugs There is a long-list of health consequences associated with the use of ergogenic drugs. Among the list of ergogenic drugs, anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) a.k.a. “Di-anabol” is one of the most commonly abused drugs in sports. Although there are still some female athletes who are taking steriods, the number of male athletes who are taking the said substance outweighs the number of female athletes (Gomez, 2005). Aside from pre-mature balding and the presence of acne, Calfee & Fadale (2006) revealed that the use of streoids can cause the athletes to have serious multiple organ failure that causes an increased risk of infertility and testicular atrophy in the long-run. Furthermore, the use of steroids can lead to the increase in blood pressure that causes left ventricular hypertrophy, muscle sprains or ligament sprains, and few cases of peliosis hepatitis, liver cysts, and hepatocellular carcinoma (Calfee & Fadale, 2006). In worst case, the practice of needle sharing in injectable steroids and other ergogenic drugs increases the athletes’ risk of having HIV, hepatitis B and C (ibid). In genera, the use of ergogenic drugs may cause the athletes to experience mild to severe depression, eating disorder, aggression, and suicidal tendencies (Elliot et al., 2007; Baum, 2005). In fact, Calfee & Fadale (2006) revealed that steroids precursors were found to cause male gynecomastia and virilization among female athletes whereas growth hormones can lead to risk of high blood pressure, jaw enlargement, and pre-mature physeal closure among others. Creatine can cause unexplainable weight gain, minor gastrointestinal discomfort, and muscle cramps (Cogeni & Miller, 2002). Ephedra are stimulants that can be used in treating asthma and Stokes-Adams. When taken in excessive amount, ephera can lead to toxicity in the human body. Similar to the health consequences of using steroids, the use of ephedra could result to life-threatening cardiovascular toxicity which includes myocardial injury, thrombosis, atherogenic diseases, and vasospasm (Dhar et al., 2005), high blood pressure, arrhythmias, anxiety, tremors, insomnia, seizures, paranoid psychoses, cerebral vascular accident, myocardial infarction, and death (Calfee & Fadale, 2006). In some cases, the use of ephedra increases the athletes’ risk for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (Gomez, 2005). Socio-Economic Consequences Associated with the Use of Ergogenic Drugs Because of the long-list of health consequences associated with the use of ergogenic drugs, athletes who are doping are at risk of paying expensive medical bills in the near future. When caught taking or carrying these illegal substances, athletes may end up facing legal charges, 1 to 5 years of imprisonment, and a minimum fine of US$1,000 as stated under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (Calfee & Fadale, 2006; Gomez, 2005). In most cases, athletes who are caught using performance-enhancing drugs may end up facing serious sanctions such as losing their credibility and rights to play in the national or international sports activities, cancellation of championship reward(s), and forfeitures of academic scholarship among others (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2005). Significance and Importance of Health Teachings in our Community and Local Schools One of the main reason why a lot of our young athletes are continuously experimenting with illegal athlete-performance drugs is due to the fact that peer-related influences on the intake of these drugs is higher than the promotion of necessary health teachings. Through the provision of proper health teaching intervention, Gomez (2005) suggests the need to make young athletes be more aware of the long-term health and socio-economic consequences associated with the use of ergogenic drugs even before they consider taking these drugs. Making them realize these long-term consequences could make them avoid using performance-enhancing drugs. Conclusion One of the common factors that influence our young athletes to have a positive perception about the use of performance-enhancing drugs is peer-pressure. Most of the time, the main reason why most of these young athletes agree to use ergogenic drugs is due to their ignorance with regards to the long-term socio-economic health consequences of these drugs. The use of ergogenic drugs does not only promote the development of physical and mental illnesses but also serious financial and legal problems which may arise out of violating the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. To enable us to save our young athletes from having the need to undergo the long-term consequences of using these drugs, this study highly recommends the need to provide necessary health teachings to young athletes. *** End *** References Baum, A. (2005). Suicide in athletes: a review and commentary. In Elliot, D.L. et al. (eds) "Cross-sectional Study of Female Students Reporting Anabolic Steroid Use". Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007.161:572-577. Calfee, R., & Fadale, P. (2006). Popular Ergogenic Drugs and Supplements in Young Athletes. Pediatrics , 117(3), e577-e589. Cogeni, J., & Miller, S. (2002). Supplements and drugs used to enhance athletic performance. In Calfee, R. & Fadale, P. (eds) "Popular Ergogenic Drugs and Supplements in Young Athletes", Pediatrics. 2006.117(3), e577-589. Dhar, R., Stout, W., Link, M., Homoud, M., Weinstock, J., & Estes, M. (2005). Cardiovascular Toxicities of Performance-Enhancing Substances in Sports. Mayo Clin Proc. , 80(10):1307-1315. Elliot, D., Cheong, J., Moe, E., & Goldberg, L. (2007). Cross-sectional Study of Female Students Reporting Anabolic Steroid Use. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. , 161:572-577. Gomez, J. (2005). Use of Performance-Enhancing Substances. Pediatrics , 115(4): 1103-1106. McDevitt, E. (2003). Ergogenic drugs in sports. In Calfee, R. & Fadale, P. (eds) "Popular Ergogenic Drugs and Supplements in Young Athletes", Pediatrics. 2006.117(3), e577-589. National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2005). NCAA enforcement and student-athlete reinstatement. In Gomez, J. (ed) "Use of Performance-Enhancing Substances". Pediatrics. 2005. 115(4):1103-1106. Sportsnet News. (2011, July 6). Retrieved August 27, 2011, from Cdn doctor admits bringing HGH into U.S.: http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2011/07/06/cdn_doctor_doping/ Wiefferink, C., Detmar, S., Coumans, B., Vogels, T., & Paulussen, T. (2008). Social psychological determinants of the use of performance-enhancing drugs by gym users. Health Education Research , 23(1):70-80. Read More